Day 15: Monday, September 2, 2013
Location: St. Croix Falls Segment, between the parking area just north of STH 8 and River Road (end of Segment), Polk County, WI
Morning came, and Theresa asked me, “You didn’t even wake up last night, did you?” That’s a little like asking me if the sun might decide to come out an hour or two early that morning. “No, why?” “Because we had a visitor last night.”
We knew it was risky parking in town and sleeping in the car. Most cities and towns have policies against such a thing, if not ordinances or downright laws. There was no sign at the parking area specifically stating no overnight camping, but that didn’t make it ok, either. On the other hand, since we were sleeping in the car, we figured the worst that could happen is that we would get rousted and we’d have to move ‘camp’ down the road a couple of miles. Theresa said the cop (I used the word ‘gendarmerie’) stopped and shined their lights directly at the car, and she was sure they would be knocking on the glass, but they never did. Eventually, she said, they just moved on. Thinking about it from their perspective, we figured here was the scene. Cop car drives by at night and spots two vehicles parked way back in the parking lot, almost hidden from view. One vehicle, the larger one, is fogged up on the inside. They’ve seen their share of ‘parkers’ and figure they need to roust this pair. The lights usually do it. They pull in and shine their headlights on the foggy van. No reaction. No movement. No teenage heads popping up, or vehicle bouncing around while people grab for clothes. Hmm. I suppose I should call in the plates. SOP, and all that. Wait for the response. Both cars belong to the same couple. How old? And there are bikes on the back of the car. They’re parked on the Gandy Dancer State Bike Trail. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. And who cares if they were fogging up the windows a little?
Some of it is probably true. Maybe all of it. Either way, there was no knock on the window, and I never woke up for any of it. I did get out of the van in the early morning light and illegally urinate behind a small building next to the trail. I refuse to say what Theresa may or may not have done to relieve herself. No one saw her, and no one can prove anything. I did however take a full walk around the outside of said building, and I discovered that it was a three-walled shelter erected for the exclusive use and pleasure of those walking or biking the trail. There was a picnic bench inside, it had a concrete floor, and there was even a garbage drum with a plastic trash bag liner. I love small towns. This was someone’s Eagle Scout project, and there were local businesses that sponsored the building, and someone obviously cared enough to maintain it. I couldn’t have been happier. It was chilly that morning, with a more than light breeze, and it felt good to get out of the wind, sit at a table and have our breakfast.
This morning, we wanted to make certain we finished the St. Croix Falls Segment, and if possible the connecting route and remainder of the Gandy Dancer Segment all the way back up to Luck. We got a little bit of a late start, but not too bad as we drove one vehicle to the parking area just north of STH 8 at the south end of the so-named Hospital Esker. Then we took the other car up to Fairgrounds Road and parked at the Parking area across from the fairgrounds. This seemed like a reasonable first stint, and we geared up and headed into the woods. This part of the trail walked up and through Regal Park, and the difference in vegetation was striking. It was a lovely uphill climb to start with, across lots of exposed bedrock and through sparse, stunted trees. It was very pretty in its own way. The trail wrapped over the park and onto a sort-of road, and then through a very odd piece of woods with almost no undergrowth. As it turns out, it was a heavily used piece of woods behind a school, and the undergrowth had been trampled to bare dirt. The trail darts out through a spit of woods as though clinging to the last shred of decency before opening to a parking lot for the school itself. Understandably, there were few blazes at this point, but we took our best guess and headed straight across the parking lot next to the school and found our next trail sign heading into the woods behind the building. The trail goes immediately to the right, cutting through the woods as one of many highly used trails. Then we slipped past the end of North Jackson Street, and straight west until we met the end of E. Kentucky Street, where we headed downhill through the residential section until we turned left on South Roosevelt St and through the parking lot for the St. Croix Regional Medical Center. This was another place where blazes were few, and having a photocopied map of the route would have helped a lot. Nevertheless, we found ourselves at the north trailhead for the Hospital Esker. We passed a couple of people coming the other way down the trail, a man and his five-year-old son, but they weren’t geared up for hiking, and it looked like they were just making use of the trail as a diversion. I’m all for it.
We climbed the trail headed up the esker, and were immediately annoyed at whomever chose this particular route, because we were once again dealing with a 20% grade or more, and there was a serious erosion problem on both ends of the esker. The view from the top was great and everything, but this piece really needs a gentler hand and some rework. Actually, at the top of the esker there was one part of the trail that was so close to the edge that it has started to collapse, and it’s only a matter of time before a hiker follows the gravel and stones that are already falling over the edge of a very steep hillside.
Back at the car now, our next jump took us to the end of Mindy Creek Court, where we took the bikes for a very short ride south to Oregon Street, and then to the end where Sunrise Road heads north. We locked the bikes there and walked generally south to where the trail crosses Louisiana Street and then to the parking area where we had left the van what seemed so very long ago. The trail map shows that this is a nice, straight line, but in reality the new trail has been cut and in use so long you can see it on the satellite photography. It never actually goes into the woods, but it darts over and skirts the edge pretty effectively, and then back across the middle of the field before finishing right back where it always was. I’m not sure what this little reroute did for us, but I guess it was better than a straight line. It was pretty good trail, but it needs better blazing at the end.
We got back in the car and drove down to Lions Park, where we would begin our next section of trail, heading west into the Wert Family Nature Preserve. This is an innocent-looking piece of trail on the maps, and in fact started out as a nice, gentle trail, but there was no getting around the fact that by the time we were done, we would need to climb well over 200 feet to our waiting car. Right at the beginning we felt there could have been an additional blaze or two to make sure we were taking the correct path into this beautiful preserve, but once we found the first blaze past the trailhead sign (about 400 feet) the rest of the trail was very well marked. This was a lovely, old-growth forest with only a few trees and limbs in the way, easily cleared, and the trail was cut artfully through the woods in such a way that you could hardly notice the climb. Then it suddenly turned uphill with purpose, and we were walking up a staircase of rocks that could only have been placed there by our friendly MSC Unit. We crested this short hill only to plunge back down again to a creek crossing, again artfully sculpted into the rock face with secure, stair-like steps. Then, across a series of stone blocks almost invisibly formed into stepping stones, we looked to the left and saw the trail heading resolutely up the edge of a very steep ravine. Apparently, all 200 feet of the climb would be on this one hill, or so it seemed. But – contrary to the rest of the steep hills we had faced in the county, this trail cut at a reasonable angle, perhaps 10%, and was both manageable and gentle to the soil. We didn’t see any of the bears that were reported by the person we walked past on the trail, but we did see lots of bluebirds at the start, and other birds as we hiked through the woods. At long last (we thought we’d never stop going uphill) we crested out at Day Road, and had only a short courtesy-crossing to our waiting car and the end of Mindy Creek Ct. We drove out and picked up our bicycles, then back down to the end of River Road, to the very end of the St. Croix Falls Segment.
For some reason, this innocent 5.3 miles of trail (could it really only be 5 miles?) seemed to be taking forever to hike. The more I look at it, the more I think that we only covered a little over a mile on that first day, not the 2 miles I thought we had. Oh well – we were covering it now. We parked the car at the end of the Segment, and were disappointed to find – nothing. No sign proclaiming the end, and very little in the way of markings at all. We knew we were in the right place, but expected more, somehow, of the very first (or last) trail segment on the whole trail. We started hiking south, and the trail was actually pretty poor. It started as a Class ‘C’ trail with lots of branches, rocks and roots, and rapidly fell to a Class ‘D’ trail for brief stints. To begin with, there were almost no trail blazes to be found, only the occasional arrow marking a change in direction. ‘Stick to the River’ the companion guide warns. How about we put up some more paint along the trail so we don’t have to write about how few signs there are in the guide book? We were walking through the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, and it was scenic, I suppose, but we saw very little of it because we had to pay such close attention to our footing. There were a few places where the trail went down into ravines in ways that would shame those who are now cutting new trail. The erosion was severe, and the footing absolutely treacherous. Signage became non-existent; if not for the mandate to ‘follow the river’ we may have taken one of the many side-trails, because none of the trails were marked. Also, the crossings themselves were absurdly dangerous, and considering how much effort has been made to put bridges across muddy areas in the middle of the national forests, miles from the nearest road, it’s totally unacceptable that these crossings are so dangerous and degraded so close to what may be the beginning of the trail for some hikers. It’s enough to discourage them from continuing the hike.
Then we reached the riverside campground, and the trail changed completely for the better and for the worse at the same time. There was a path up to a pit toilet, and another path leading along the river which was wide, bordered, and paved with crushed gray gravel. There were bridges you could go across with training wheels on your tricycle, and in fact we passed a couple meandering along comfortably with their baby in a stroller. The problem was, there were no signs. None. Not one yellow blaze in sight, and we kept going on that trail for another half of a mile or so before finally seeing a yellow mark where the trail left this gravel walkway and headed back into the woods. I don’t know what it is about the people who maintain these segments. The better a trail is, the less likely you will find marks. It was true of the Portage River segment, it was true of the Gandy Dancer Segment, and it was certainly true here. If not for the warning to ‘stick to the river’ we would certainly not have known which way to go. There’s no excuse for it here – you could maintain this piece of trail on crutches. The one truly beneficial sign we saw was a small sign posted in front of a patch of poison ivy, picturing the plant and giving the hikers a chance to get a good look at it in the wild. We studied it carefully, because it has been a few years since each of us had done that, and reminded ourselves exactly what it looked like. After what seemed a very long way, we finally reached the parking lot, and the van. It was about four in the afternoon, and we had a bit of a problem. Theresa’s shoes had met their Waterloo. Or their Mud-erloo, or something like that. She had stepped on a mucky piece of trail and became instantly aware that the waterproofing she faithfully applied to the leather exterior of the boots provided no protection when there was a four-inch crack in the sole running the width of the boot right through to her socks. She had finally, and for the first time in her life, completely blown through a pair of boots. Only had the darn things 18 years. They just don’t make boots the way they used to. Sheesh. End of Segment. Running total: 130.9 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: 4.5 mile connecting route between St. Croix Falls Segment and Gandy Dancer Segment, Polk County, WI
So – now what? Or next section was going to be all biking, so we didn’t need boots, but the next day was more hiking. Now what? We called around and found a Gander Mountain store in Forest Lake Minnesota, 25 miles and perhaps 50 minutes away. They would be open until 9:00, but if we tried biking the 15 miles or so of Gandy Dancer and connecting route first, we might be cutting things thin. So we abandoned the trail for a much-needed break from the heat and drove out to get Theresa some new boots. Long story short, add another $159.99 to the expenses; $1697.45 and counting. We also stopped at a Culver’s for dinner, and by the time we got back to Wisconsin and our car, it was 6:20. Sundown would be about 7:45, dark would come about 8:00, and black night would come by 8:25. We had 15 miles of trail/biking route to cover, and it looked like we weren’t going to reach our goal for the day of getting all the way back up to Luck, but we were certainly going to get as far as we could. We left the van at the River Road trail head, and took the bikes back up to Centuria, where we parked in the large parking area next to the trail on 170th Ave. For the record, this would be an excellent place to park/camp in the future, if you’re looking for a place to hang out for the night. We rode our bikes down the last mile or so of the Gandy Dancer segment, and onto 160th Ave, where we headed due west into the setting sun. We were really pushing our luck on this one, because any vehicle that would have been coming behind us would have had just as much trouble spotting us as we were having just seeing the road in front of us. After a mile or so of up and down biking, we started heading downhill, and except for a couple of bumps along the way found ourselves screaming downhill all the way to STH 87, where we had to really burn the rubber on the breaks to make a safe turn north until we could turn off on River Road and continue our downhill coast all the way to the car. If we had tried to ride this section coming the other way it would have taken us two hours. As it was, I think we covered it in 40 minutes. End of connecting route (and a little more). Running total: 135.4 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location: Gandy Dancer Segment between STH 48 Parking area in Luck, WI and 160th Ave (end of Segment), Polk County, WI
We rapidly put the bikes on the car, and drove like wild up towards Luck. Our thinking was, if we got there about 8:22 as our GPS device told us we would, we could just go slowly down the Gandy Dancer Trail on our bikes and finish up even if it took a lot longer. By the time we got to Milltown we thought better of it and decided we’d try for just the first half of the trip. We had left the Atlas in the wrong car, and so didn’t have a good idea where the trail cut through town, or where the parking area was, though we knew there was one. We ended up turning right on 2nd Ave when we got into town (a mistake) and drove all the way out of town until we met the trail about three-quarters of a mile south. We found ‘adequate’ parking for the van, but by now were really glad we chose the shorter piece. It was still possible to see, a little, but there was no moon and out where there are no city lights – dark is dark. Thankfully I had a flashlight with me, and by the time we realized it would be impossible to ride without light, I turned it on and we were able to bike slowly along the trail in the tiny pool of light cast by the flashlight I held. It was possible to feel the long, slow uphill grades, or the long, slow downhill slopes only because the peddling would suddenly become harder or easier. It was a very interesting ride, and we both commented about how unlikely it was that we would be doing this exact thing at this particular point in our lives. Biking at night is one thing, but miles and miles from home, without proper lights on the bikes, and in temperatures below 50° is quite another. It had been plenty warm earlier in the day, but now it was getting genuinely chilly. As it turns out, there must have been a storm that passed through recently, because over and over again I found myself shouting “Tree to the right” as we peddled past a down branch, or tree that encroached the space on the west side off the trail, and at one point had to stop completely and lift our bikes up and over a tree that had completely obstructed the path. None of which we would have seen if we weren’t using the light. We would have been walking.
But – with the light, and the wide, easy, off-road path to bike on – suddenly our goal of reaching Luck that night was again possible. It was pitch black, and it was down to 40°, but it was possible. We drove the bikes back up to Luck, got our warm shirts on, and rode the last few miles of trail down to the car just south of Milltown. We did it! End of segment!
Rather than parking in Luck again and risking same, we decided to pick up both vehicles and drive back to Moh’s Mountain for another peaceful, undisturbed evening. It was downright cold that night, so we parked our cars where we knew it was relatively level and snuggled in for the night. It was late, but we were where we wanted to be. Running total: 145.7 miles of trail covered; 8.5 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 15.
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